Friday, December 27, 2013

I'm well aware that not everyone in the world shares my love for the symbolic little gem known as the hashtag. (I contend that these misguided haters are just non-creative types but that's a topic for another post.) But as I see it, the hashtag is a handy little tool that, when properly used, makes a run of the mill tweet/statement/email/opinion a heck of a lot more interesting. Case in point, this video by two of my best pals: Jimmy and Justin. (I just call them J-squared--they asked me to).

See?? Without the hashtag, this would have been little more than a cheesy conversation about cookies, kids movies and JT's teeth. So here's my argument to all the haters: If the hashtag elevated something this simple to hysterical standards, can you imagine what it would do for other ho-hums in our world?

For example:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, #duh that all men #&women are created equal #booyahbitch,
that they are endowed #isthatthesameasbigbreasted by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights #score,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." #hellztotheyeah

or...

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.#impressive #showoff. Now the earth was formless and empty #yawn, darkness was over the surface of the deep, #lochnessisreal and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. #mysterious #whatgenreisthisbook

or maybe even this...

"About three things I was absolutely positive. #overachiever First, Edward was a
vampire. #newsflash Second, there was part of him #yeahtherewas– and I didn't know how potent
that part might be #verypotent– that thirsted for my blood. #ew #buytrueblood And third, I was
unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him." #thisiswhatbiletasteslike

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Jen here. I'm so excited for today's post. I've got not one, not two, but
SIX amazing authors here with me to answer our Sweet Six questions. These
lovely ladies are my Bloomsbury
Spark pub sisters, and they dropped by today to celebrate the launch of our
books in just two days! You will swoon for these diverse YA and NA
titles, and I hope you love these girls as much as I do. Without further ado, I
give you...

Frankie Brown, author of UNTIL WE END;
Christine Duval, author of POSITIVELY
MINE; Jenny, Kaczorowski, author of THE
ART OF FALLING; Cat Kalen, author of PRIDE'S
RUN; Marie Langager, author of BEYOND
OUR STARS; and Ashley Poston, author of THE
SOUND OF US.

1) Tell us about your book!

Frankie: My book tells the story of Cora, a
seventeen-year-old girl from the deep south whose little brother goes missing
after the world ends. She meets a guy named Brooks who knows how to get her
brother back, but Brooks says it'd be a suicide mission. Cora doesn't care. But
Brooks can't let her go...

Christine:Positively Mine is a NA novel about a
girl who goes off to her freshman year of college, discovers she is pregnant,
and keeps it a secret the entire pregnancy.

Jenny:Seventeen-year-old Bria Hale knows exactly who she is - the
militant vegan, purple-haired queen of the art room - until she kisses the high
school quarterback.

Cat: Eighteen-year-old Pride is a
tracker with a hunger for blood. Taught to trick, seduce and to lure, she is
the perfect killing machine. Kept leashed in the cellar by a master who is
as ruthless as he is powerful, Pride dreams of freedom, of living a normal
life, but escape from the compound is near impossible and disobedience comes
with a price. When she learns her master intends to breed her she knows she has
to run. Pride soon learns if she is to survive in the wild, she must trust in
the boy who promises her freedom, the same boy she was sent to hunt.

Marie:Fleeing a destroyed Earth, Hope has
become a young leader for the people who remain, and when she is the only one
who can withstand the tests of the natives on their new planet she is about to
become their last chance for survival.

Ashley:It's a story
about two young people who have both lost the person they love the most, and
how they learn to stand again with a little help from their friends. And maybe
a small dash of classic rock.

2) What scene in your book do you LOVE the
most?

Frankie: I love the opening scene where the
reader meets Cora and finds out how she's survived for nine months without
leaving home. I had to do a lot of research to figure out how that'd be
possible, and it was such a fun puzzle.

Christine:There are a couple but so I don't reveal
the ending, I'll say my favorite is when my MC Laurel goes to visit her friend
Audrey from her young mother's pregnancy support group. Audrey has everything
Laurel doesn't. She's married to the father of her baby, has a huge loving
family, and is on her way to finishing her degree. But in this one particular
scene, Laurel realizes that Audrey is actually jealous of Laurel's
independence. I really like their exchange. It made me cry when I was writing
it.

Jenny: The almost-kiss in the shower,
where Ben & Bria compare their scars. (Note from Jen: I LOVE this
scene, too!!)

Cat: My absolute favourite scene is
during the night of the full moon, when the boy she was sent to hunt, takes her
into a cave, and uses distraction to keep her mind off her hunger!

Ashley:Gosh, this is
hard... but Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle. I absolutely adore her gumption.
Diana Wynne Jones always had a way of making fantastical characters believable
and heartfelt, and I aspire to do that someday, too!

4) What's the craziest/most memorable
valentine you've ever received?

Frankie: The most memorable valentine I've
ever gotten was a hot stone massage followed by a five-course brunch. Maybe
I'll treat myself to that this year!

Christine: An engraved Tiffany bracelet from a
grown man when I was only twelve years old! Yup. It was kinda creepy and very
Humbert Humbert.

Jenny: Our second year of marriage, after
swearing we wouldn't do gifts, my husband bought me flowers, which we totally
couldn't afford.

Cat:Years ago, when I was pregnant and had
strange cravings, for Valentines my husband brought me home a big sack of potatoes!
LOL. I was eating like 5 lbs. of potatoes a day! It was funny and
thoughtful!

Marie:It involved a path of rose petals
leading to a candle lit dinner of Chinese take-out with Boys II Men blasting in
the background. I married him.

Ashley:Eeeek, well,
I can honestly say I've never had a valentine. But the most memorable/craziest gift I've ever received was a Scrooge McDuck
piggie bank, and every time you put money in it Scrooge would say, "AAH,
THE MONEY. LOOK AT ALL THE MONEY!" Highlight of my childhood.

5) If you were a Brach's Heart, what phrase
would be written on you?

Frankie: Kiss me.

Christine:Be True

Jenny:You Rock

Cat:Naughty...

Marie:<3's Magic

Ashley:Probably ALL
THE FEELS.

6)
The all-important choice: flowers or candy?

Frankie:CANDY. Of course candy! Anything with chocolate.

Christine: Flowers.

Jenny: Flowers. I buy my own chocolate ;)

Cat: Candy
for sure!!

Marie:Sugarrrr!!
My answer is candy. Preferably chocolate.

Ashley:Haha! Um, candy for sure! Can I say strawberries dipped in chocolate?
Oh-hoho those are my favorite.

Thanks so much, ladies! Congratulations on the launch...I’m sure we’ll all be
celebrating with candy, flowers, AND streamers on Thursday!

Friday, December 13, 2013

Good morning! Normally on Fridays we profess our love for something suggested by our fans, but today I'm doing something a little different because 2014 is almost upon us: I'm professing my love for the other Valentines! Here it is--a Valentine for the Valentines.

Jaye Robin Brown, better known as Jro, is also an art teacher. Not only does she juggle her busy teaching career with writing, she manages a blog, too. How can I steal this woman's energy and bottle it for myself?

Lindsay Cummings just got married and has TWO books coming out next year. I think it's safe to say that she's in the middle of the most wonderful ride of her life.

Bethany Crandell isn't only an amazing writer, she's an amazing mom, too. Listen to how sweet her kiddo is: Recently, one of her daughters looked through her publisher's catalog at the upcoming titles and said, "Mom, this is what you were meant to do." Aww. If that doesn't melt your heart, then you're made of stone, my friend.

Bethany Hagen and I are both librarians, which means we obsess over the Dewey Decimal System too much. One day, while leaving work, Bethany posted a picture of a towering stack of library books she was checking out with the caption, "Hi, my name is Bethany and I have a problem." What's not to love? A book addict, librarian, and writer--officially the best combination ever! (Okay, I admit, I'm probably a tiny bit biased here...)

Kristi Helvig doesn't just write nail-biting science fiction--she's also a clinical psychologist. How amazing is that?! You know how some author's characters sometimes act in ways that don't make sense? Bet that doesn't happen to Kristi's characters.

Sara B. Larson must have an incredible sense of hearing. She can watch her little kids play and write a scene simultaneously--without letting her children's chatter creep into her book! If that isn't talent, then I don't know what is.

Kristen Lippert-Martin is the person to spend time with if you want to lose weight. Not because she'll force you to run around the block fifty times. Because she will make you laugh constantly until your stomach and cheeks ache. Doesn't laughter burn 40 calories an hour?

Lynne Matson has the best autocorrect on her phone in history. Seriously. Once she emailed the group from her phone, and the message was signed Zloty. We've all begged her not to get a new phone because the autocorrects are so hilarious.

Sara Raasch is our fearless leader and one of the funniest people I know. Just don't take a drink while simultaneously reading an email from her because you'll end up snarfing out of your nose. Not that this has ever happened to me. Ahem.

A. Lynden Rolland is the queen of multi-taskers. She finished her edits and took care of her little kids while hobbling around on a broken ankle! Amy, we all bow down to you in awe.

Phil Siegel is the calm voice of reason. Whenever the rest of us get nervous, he talks us down from the ceiling. He's kind of friend everyone needs.

Paula Stokes is the wise of experience. She's been published before under a pseudonym, and has explained the intricacies of the publishing process to us newbies. If you want to know why she's called "Wise Panda," check Lynne's section.

That concludes my Valentine to the Valentines! I'm so glad I'm on this crazy rollercoaster with all of you!

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

If you have a heart condition that makes reading exciting
news inadvisable OR you have an allergy to awesome blog posts, then you should
stop reading this right now.

IT IS ALMOST 2014, PEOPLE!

There are just 28 days until 2014, and 2014 is when the
tsunami of literary epicness will be unleashed like a sassy lady
Godzilla onto an unsuspecting Tokyo! (Yes, you’re Tokyo in this metaphor. Don’t
ask, just go with it.)

WHICH MEANS…

There are 34 days until Sara B. Larson’s DEFY is going to
rock you like a hurricane. In the jungle. With swords. And swoony guys. That’s
what I’m talking about.

And 62 days until Bethany Hagen’s LANDRY PARK is going to
break your heart into three million pieces and then put them back together
again, but you’ll never be the same. No, you won’t.

And 91 days until LYNNE MATSON’S NIL makes you wonder what you would do if you woke up naked in a field of lava rocks. Because someday you
just might. It happens more often than has been reported in the mainstream media.

Oh, and about that last one. I have some insider information
to share. If you take your fine self over to Lynne’s blog tomorrow or to
Macteen, you might just stumble into Lynne’s #NILtribe giveaways. She’s got swag, NIL ARCs up for grabs, all that good stuff! The clock is ticking. Go, go, go! I’ll cover you as you run
naked across the lava rocks!

It's completely understandable if you've begun to hyperventilate. Just stay calm, grab a paper bag
from the display below the comment box, and do like Sheldon.